Injustice, O’ Allah: Yakub’s Last Words

As the noose was tightened around his neck, a spiritual leader asked Yakub Memon to confess. “Allah, the Almighty, is All wise and the Knower of All things. I am innocent and I must not be hanged. It is injustice and I am a victim of political murder,” replied Yakub, as he kept on chanting the verses from Qur’an.

yakub memon funeral

Memon was executed in Nagpur Jail on Wednesday morning, his birthday, after Indian apex court dismissed his mercy petition in the dead of night (apparently to ensure that he walked the gallows).

Reports from the jail say that he couldn’t sleep for two nights before his hanging as he said: “There was no point sleeping since I was going to sleep forever anyway”.

Around 5.15 am, electricity was disconnected to the area in the vicinity of the Nagpur Central Jail. Not even a streetlight was on. Around 20 minutes later, power was restored,” Mid Day reported.

A jail official says that Memon wished all inmates as he was being shifted to an isolated cell near Faasi yard. “God bless all,” Memon said.

He skipped the last dinner of his life and instead kept reciting Qur’an. Memon, a jail officer says, remained awake for two nights and decided to stick to the same schedule on the night of his hanging.

“Around 2 am on Thursday, he couldn’t stay awake anymore, and fell asleep,” said the officer.

It took the officials three attempts to wake him up for his execution.

“‘Allah, the Almighty, is All wise and the Knower of All things. I am innocent and I must not be hanged. It’s injustice and I am a victim of political murder,’ Yakub said. Even when the lever was pulled, he kept chanting God’s name and reciting verses from the Quran.

“When he got up, he offered prayers and was given a bucket of hot water, which had some rose water in it, for a bath. During the bath, he was chanting God’s name and reciting various phrases of the Quran,” the paper reported.

Doctors examined him, checked his blood pressure, which was normal, and then a senior jailer and three constables marched him to the gallows.

Yakub kept saying: “Main begunah hoon (I am innocent). This is injustice.” A few minutes before the hanging, as per the jail manual, a spiritual leader asked Yakub to confess his sin, but he replied that he was innocent.

Yakub then recited a phrase from the Quran which meant, “And it is He Who gave you life, and it is He who will cause you to die, and it is He Who will then resurrect you. Man is indeed extremely prone to denying the Truth.” He went on to say, “No soul can ever die except with the permission of Allah and justice will be given to him in Allah’s court, which is Supreme.”

He kept taking Allah’s name, only getting louder as the noose was tied around his neck. He was calm, however, and showed no remorse,” said a jail official.

“‘Allah, the Almighty, is All wise and the Knower of All things. I am innocent and I must not be hanged. It’s injustice and I am a victim of political murder,’ Yakub said. Even when the lever was pulled, he kept chanting God’s name and reciting verses from the Quran.

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